Uptown Girl
by newyork-stateofmind11
Summary: "Why, oh why did she ever think this was a good idea? She's sitting between a dirty old man and an attractive boy who looks to be about her age, on a subway going to Brooklyn of all places."/ Or, Rachel is an upper east sider that ends up on a subway next to one Finn Hudson. She doesn't know it yet, but this trip to Brooklyn will change her life./ AU Finn/Rachel
1. part i

**Hey ya'll! It's me again. Brand new story- who's excited? :D I AM still working on Runaway, and I hope to update that shortly (for any of you who've read it), but I read this prompt on finchel-prompts and I just HAD to write it.**

**This will be a multi-part story. I can't tell you how many parts, because I don't know myself yet :P. When I have an estimation I'll let you all know!**

**I'm really excited about this, so if you guys could review and let me know what you think of this first part, it would mean the world to me.**

**Original prompt: **

AU Finchel. During her first subway ride, Rachel meets Finn. She's a spoiled, sixteen year old upper east sider who's used to traveling by car service. She goes to a fancy performing arts school, and her newest role calls for her to be a bad girl hailing from the streets of Brooklyn. She decided to take a trip to that side of the city to get in character, but now she's terrified. It doesn't help when Finn, a guy who she assumes to be a hooligan, starts talking to her. It turns out that he's not as bad as he seems and the two strike up a friendship which quickly turns to more.

Rachel's fathers are out of the picture most of the time. Her only parental figure is their housekeeper, Emma. Her best friends are Kurt, Tina, and Brittany who also attend her school.

Finn lives in a small apartment with his mom who works two jobs to keep their heads above ground. His best friends are Sam, Artie, and Santana.

**Naturally, I've put my own twist on things. I hope you all like it! :)**

**This is un-betaed, just so you know.**

**Sorry for the long author's note! On to the story!**

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i.

To say Rachel Berry was terrified would be an understatement.

She's sitting on a cracked leather seat in between an old man that smells suspiciously like Taco Bell and sweat and a boy that looks to be about her age. Even in her current state of disgust and terror, she can admit that the boy is attractive. Brown hair, whiskey coloured eyes, chiseled jaw… By the looks of his arm muscles, she thinks he's probably an athlete too. He's also tall, judging by the ways his legs are spread out across the entire aisle, and the thought briefly enters her mind that if they were to date his tall frame would balance out her 5'2 one nicely.

Too late she realizes she's staring and her eyes quickly flit away, but not before she sees the mysterious boy give her an amused smile, causing her cheeks to flush a delicate pink.

The subway doors close with a swoosh, and Rachel's grip on her purse strap tightens until her knuckles are white. She's trapped, with no one here to help her, except possibly the cute guy she's sitting beside. Taking a deep breath, Rachel tries to calm her breathing. She's almost relaxed when she realizes that the creepy business man with the Afro is leering at her from across the aisle. Her nose scrunches up in disgust, and then her heart rate speeds up when she realizes that nobody in this car knows her and would be able to scare the guy away if he tried to do something to her.

Why, oh why did she ever think this was a good idea?

She should have taken Carl up on his offer to drive her down to Brooklyn. Instead, she insisted on getting on this god awful train full of strangers and dirty people to get into her character.

If she doesn't get 100% on this drama assignment, Will Schuester had better beware.

The subway lurches to a sudden stop, and suddenly there's a hand on her leg dangerously close to her purse and ohmigod she's about to get mugged and then she's screaming, loud and high, and scrambling for her phone.

"Whoa, whoa, calm down there," the boy next to her says. He makes a show of removing his hand from her leg, making sure that Rachel can see what he's doing. "I didn't mean to grab your leg like that, I lost my balance. I'm really sorry," he says sheepishly. "I'm Finn, by the way. Finn Hudson." He holds out the offending hand, the one previously on her thigh.

Rachel, who is still convinced that the boy- _Finn - _is going to try and rape her, simply stares at the offering until he pulls his hand back, the tips of his ears turning red.

"My fathers taught me to never talk to strangers," she informs him snidely.

He grins, and she's shocked to see two rows of perfect teeth smiling at her. "Wise advice. But I just introduced myself, so I'm not technically a stranger anymore, right?"

She rolls her eyes. "If we're talking about technicalities, then no, you're not a stranger." At his expectant look, she huffs. "That doesn't mean I'm going to tell you my name though. And now, if you'll excuse me, this is my stop." She stands up, brushing off her pencil skirt and making her way to the doors, which are already crowded with people getting on and off. Finn stands up too, and she turns to glare at him.

"Are you planning on following me?"

Finn gives her a bemused look, before checking to see what stop is illuminated above. "Nope, this is my stop too."

She gives a little "Hurruph" in reply, and he tries to hide his smile. _She's cute_, he notes, with long brown hair and chocolate eyes. _A bit paranoid, but that just makes her even more adorable._

The creepy business man stands up too, ignoring his partner's reminder that this isn't their stop, and follows the two teens off of the subway into the Brooklyn streets.

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**Didn't really like that last line, but I wasn't sure how to end it, so... there you go.**

**Please, please tell me what you think. I won't continue the story if I don't end up getting reviews- kind of silly, I know, but if no one is reading why bother posting?**

**Click the blue button. You know you want to.**

**Bye for now!**

**gleek1**


	2. part ii

**Helllloooo! Thank you so, so much for the reviews, it was awesome to see a new review pretty much everyday. Keep on reviewing and I'll keep posting. ;)**

**Okay. Couple of warnings for this chapter.**

**1. Trigger Warning- Rape is mentioned and alluded to in this chapter. Nothing happens, and there is no detail, but it is mentioned a lot and it is implied. I'm sorry if this offends anyone- I know it's a touchy subject and hopefully I've respected that.**

**2. Little bit of language, nothing awful, I promise.**

**I think I'll be posting on a weekly basis, generally on Friday nights, just so you know. I'll try and stick to a schedule, but no guarantees. :)**

**This chapter is dedicated to Celtic Quill. Not only were they the first reviewer on this story, they went and read my other stories and gave me my first reviews on the story "Runaway". Thanks so much, you have no idea how happy that made me! **

**Enjoy the chapter! Some protective!Finn in this chapter, which was a ton of fun to write.**

**Oh, and just so you all know, I have changed my pen name to newyork-stateofmind11. That is moi from now on, okay? :)**

**newyork-stateofmind11**

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ii.

Rachel's tapping on her iPhone, hurrying down the street towards the coffee shop that Kurt texted her directions to. He, along with his boyfriend Blaine and their two friends Tina and Brittany, had gotten a ride down here, not wanting her to be alone in the dirtiest part of New York. She grins, thinking about Kurt's reaction to the grimy streets and off-the-rack clothing stores, wishing that she could have seen his face when he first entered this part of the city. She's too absorbed in her text messaging to notice the man that stepped out in front of her, and she walks right into him.

"Watch where you're going," she snaps, looking up at the man. He looks strangely familiar, but it's not until he smiles at her that she realizes who he is, a sick jolt going through her body.

It's the business man that was leering at her on the subway.

"It's quite alright, I don't mind when pretty girls like you bump into me," he says, in a way that's obviously meant to be charming but just comes off as creepy. His hair is even bigger up close, and she just now realizes that he's wearing glasses and that his face is disgustingly oily.

"I'm Jacob Ben Israel," he says, smiling at her again before grabbing her hand and, before she can stop him, placing a sloppy kiss on the back of it. "And you are?"

She rips her hand out of his grasp, gives him a glare, and tries to sidestep him. "Excuse me, please, there's somewhere I need to be."

He laughs, a maniac sound. "Oh, you don't feel like telling me your name? That's quite alright. The only name that matters is the one that you'll be screaming when I'm through with you."

Rachel can feel bile rising in her throat as she attempts again to get past him. "Sir, there's really somewhere I need to be, now please move out of my way."

Suddenly, Jacob turns his charm off, grabbing her upper arm so tightly she winces. "You're not going anywhere, sweetheart, unless it's an alleyway with me."

"Let me go!" Rachel cries, twisting her arm to free it from Jacob's hold. Much to her dismay, his grip only tightens. "Let go of me this instant!" She starts kicking him, but Jacob pays her no mind and starts dragging her into an alley. She can't help it- she starts to cry. It figures that after living in the Upper East Side for 16 years, she's about to meet her end in Brooklyn of all places.

"The lady said to let her go, and I think you should listen to her."

Jacob turns towards the sound of the new voice, and Rachel seizes the opportunity to claw at his arm, fighting to free herself from his grip.

"And who might you be?" Jacob sneers. Finally, Rachel turns her head to see who came to her rescue. Her face morphs from terror to shock in a matter of seconds.

"Finn?" she breathes, hardly believing what she's seeing.

Jacob looks down at Rachel, who's stopped struggling and is now just staring at Finn. "Oh, do you know him darling?"

A shiver runs down Rachel's spine at his words, dripping with faux sweetness. "I'm not your darling."

Jacob pays her no mind, instead addressing Finn again. "Well, _Finn¸_ as you can see, the little lady and I are quite busy, so if you don't mind…"

Finn glares at Jacob, and Rachel can see pure hatred radiating from the cinnamon orbs. "Actually, what it looks like to me is you dragging a girl into an alley way when she clearly doesn't want to go. If I'm not mistaken, that sounds an awful lot like rape, don't you think?"

"So what if it is?" Jacob sneers. "What are you going to do about it?" He's gloating now, taunting Finn, and Rachel feels like she might be sick, or faint, or both.

Finn's voice is deadly calm now. "This."

And then he pulls his fist back and punches Jacob in the face.

Jacob's hands fly up to stop the blood now gushing from his nose, and Rachel dashes out of his grasp to stand behind Finn, trembling with fear. To her surprise, he reaches one large hand back to grasp her smaller one, and even though she just met him for the first time ten minutes ago, the hold feels… right. She instantly relaxes, feeling safe with this boy.

Jacob, meanwhile, glares at Finn. "What the hell man?"

"Next time a lady says to stop, you stop, asshole." Finn's voice and gaze soften as he looks over his shoulder at Rachel, who's still clinging to him. "C'mon, let's get out of here."

She nods, her hand clasping his tightly, and they walk away from Jacob, who's screaming something about lawsuits and assault.

Rachel tries to ignore the fact that when Finn looked at her, it felt like she had known him for forever, or that her hand fits perfectly in his.

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**There it is, part 2 of "Uptown Girl"! Again, I apologize if I've offended anybody with the content, I didn't mean to.**

**OH. Le Disclaimer: I do not own Glee, my twin Rachel Berry, Finn Hudson, or any other character mentioned in this. I have no affiliation with the show.**

**Don't forget to review!**

**gleek1**


	3. part iii

**Hi guys! Sorry this chapter is going up a bit late- Friday was my school's Homecoming, and then yesterday was super busy. I hope this chapter is worth the wait!**

**Don't forget to review! It seriously makes my day when people give me reviews, so do it. You know you want too. ;)**

**Thanks to everybody who reviewed the last 2 chapters, you guys are the reason I keep posting.**

**Just a reminder that my pen name has changed. I am now newyork-stateofmind11, formerly gleek1. This is me, not somebody who's taken my story.**

**Enjoy!**

**newyork-stateofmind11**

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iii.

Finn makes sure they're a good couple of blocks away from Jacob before he talks to her.

"So, does totally saving you warrant a name?" he teases lightly, and Rachel's glad that he's trying to lighten the mood, because she's still can't wrap her mind around the fact that she was almost _raped_.

"It's Rachel. Rachel Berry," she says, beaming up at him.

Finn gapes at her for a second. "Berry? As in Hiram and Leroy Berry, famous Broadway directors?"

Rachel nods. "That's right. Someday, I'm going to be a Broadway actress," she tells him primly. "I'm going to be quite famous you know."

Finn smiles down at her. "I'm sure you will be."

There's a moment of comfortable silence before Rachel offers, "I'm actually studying at Eastbrook School for the Performing Arts."

Finn whistles lowly. "Wow. You must be pretty good then."

"Oh, I'm the best actress there," Rachel informs him seriously.

Finn merely raises his eyebrows. "I don't doubt it. Is that what brought you to Brooklyn? Working on a drama project or something?"

Rachel stares at him. "How did you know I was just visiting Brooklyn?"

Finn can't help it- he laughs at her look of confusion and caution. "Rachel, your dads are famous Broadway directors, you obviously don't live in Brooklyn."

She flushes a delicate pink. "Right, of course."

Finn's tone turns serious as he continues. "And you obviously don't know the dangers of walking around these kinds of places by yourself."

At this Rachel's eyes find a very interesting spot on the pavement. "Thanks," she says quietly. "For saving me, I mean. I don't-" she takes a deep, shuddering breath, ashamed to realize that she's close to tears. "I don't even want to think about what would have happened if you hadn't come when you did."

Finn shrugs. "S'cool. That guy was an asshole, and I wasn't about to let you get raped."

There's an awkward silence, until Rachel clears her throat uncomfortably. "Listen, I'm supposed to be meeting a couple of friends for coffee…"

Finn does a double take, realizing that in his haste to get Rachel away from Jewfro he turned her in the opposite direction. "Right, of course, I'm so sorry…"

Rachel stops him before he can ramble. "No, I just meant- would you maybe- I don't know, would you like to join us?" she finishes, blushing. She's normally more articulate, but there's just something about _Finn_ that makes her forget about being prim and proper.

At Finn's questioning gaze, she shrugs. "You saved my life. The least I could do is buy you a cup of coffee," she says lightly.

A slow grin spreads across his handsome face. "Yeah, okay. What coffee shop are you headed to?"

Rachel gives him the address, and Finn turns them around and sets them walking in the right direction.

Rachel doesn't even notice that they hold hands the entire way there.

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**A/N And there it is! Part 3 of Uptown Girl. I've yet to write part 4, and this week promises to be busy, so I don't know if it'll be up on Friday, but I'll do my best.**

**Don't forget to review you guys!**

**Out of curiousity, how many of you have watched season 4 of Glee? If you have, are you enjoying it? Let me know, I'd love to talk to you!**

**And, on a completely different note- my PM box is always, always open. If you ever want to talk about anything, related to my stories or not, know that I'm available, okay? I've been told I'm a pretty good listener, and I don't ever want you guys to feel like you're alone.**

**Until next time, my friends!**

**newyork-stateofmind11**


	4. part iv

**Helllloooo, all! I'm so sorry it took so long to get this chapter up. I could make a bunch of excuses, but I'm guessing you just want to get to the chapter.**

**Finally, we meet some of the rest of the gang! And we learn a little more about Finn- yay!**

**Enjoy!**

**newyork-stateofmind11**

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iv.

The bell on the door to the coffee shop jingles merrily as Finn and Rachel step inside. The warm air is a welcome relief from the cool October breeze, and Rachel can feel her hands slowly start to warm up. She must admit, for a coffee shop in downtown Brooklyn, it's a pretty nice place. She scans the crowded café for Kurt, grinning in relief when she sees him waving spastically from a corner booth. Tina, Mercedes, and Brittany are already with him, and to Rachel's surprise, Kurt's boyfriend Blaine has joined them as well. She tugs on Finn's hand, leading him towards the booth.

"Hi guys!" she chirps, smiling at her best friends. "Sorry I'm late, I was… delayed." She doesn't want to tell them what happened to her- it's embarrassing and scary and altogether inappropriate for coffee shop talk.

Kurt, noticing Rachel and Finn's interlaced fingers, raises an eyebrow. "Yes, we can see that you've been… busy," he remarks dryly, smirking when Rachel's face turns bright red upon realizing that she's holding hands with Finn. "Hey, Finn," he greets.

"Hey there Kurt," Finn responds, grinning. "Hey Blaine, what's up man?" he asks, reaching over to give Blaine, now standing, a "man" hug.

"Nothing much, you?" Blaine returns the hug affectionately, then sits down and grabs Kurt's hand, returning to his coffee.

Finn smirks. "Rescuing ladies in distress, you know, the usual." He grins inwardly when he notices the faint blush that tinges Rachel's cheeks at his comment, knowing that nobody else will understand what he means.

Rachel, having succeeded in removing her hand from Finn's warm grasp, looks between the three boys in surprise. "You all know each other?" she asks, removing her hat and coat and squeezing into the booth beside Kurt. She taps on the table across from her, indicating that Finn should sit.

Finn does so, a tad uncomfortably, squeezing his long legs underneath the table. "Yeah, Blaine's in my music class, and Kurt's dad is dati-" he quickly changes his words upon seeing Kurt's pleading gaze, "- I mean, since Kurt's dad is the mayor of the city, it's impossible not to know who he is, you know? Plus he's my best friend's boyfriend, so we got to know each other."

Rachel raises her eyebrows, but doesn't comment on his abrupt change of explanation. Then another thought occurs to her. "What do you mean, Blaine's in your music class? He attends Eastbrook with the rest of us," she says, a confused frown marring her face.

Finn, momentarily distracted by how cute Rachel looks when she's confused, takes a moment to answer. "Oh, yeah, about that…." He rubs the back of his neck sheepishly. "I kind of attend Eastbrook too. I'm a music major," he explains.

"But you said you didn't go to Eastbrook!" Rachel exclaims, glaring at him from across the table.

"No, I just didn't tell you that I went there," Finn corrects. "Besides, you never asked."

Rachel turns bright red at the questioning glances from her friends. "Whatever," she snaps. "It's not that important, I was just curious." Inside, though, her heart gives a strange giddy leap at the knowledge that Finn attends her school. How had she not seen him before?

"Yeah, well…" Finn trails off, unsure of how to continue. The sudden shift in Rachel's mood threw him for a loop, and he's not sure if he should just shut up or if he should continue.

Luckily, Blaine saves him. "Aren't you on the football team too?" he asks.

Finn smiles at Blaine gratefully. "Yeah, I'm the quarter back."

Suddenly, a solemn voice says, "You have a quarter for your back? That's weird." All eyes turn to the blonde sitting beside Tina, who is looking back at them with a serious expression on her face.

Finn's not sure how to react. "Um, actually, that's the position I play on the field…." He gives Rachel an "is-she-serious" look, to which Rachel responds with an eye roll and head nod.

"Brittany's not the brightest bulb in the box," Kurt explains apologetically.

"Actually, Kurt, I'm not a lightbulb. I'm a human," the blonde dancer tells him seriously. "But don't worry, sometimes I get confused too."

The five others at the table trade eyebrow raised, can't-believe-she-just-said-that looks, until Mercedes, a large African-American girl, takes it upon herself to explain to poor Brittany what Kurt meant.

A slightly awkward silence descends upon the table, broken when Rachel stands up, declaring that she really needs a coffee.

"You coming?" she asks Finn, grinning at him. "I did promise you a coffee, after all." Her tone is back to light, teasing, and Finn's voice matches hers when he responds,

"Yeah, as payment for totally saving you."

The group watches as they walk to the front of the café, not seeming to have noticed that they've joined hands again.

"So how long do you think it'll take for them to realize that they've totally fallen for each other?" Blaine whispers in Kurt's ear.

"Knowing both Finn and Rachel well? They probably have no idea how much they already flirt," Kurt responds, watching the pair with interested eyes.

No, they didn't seem to realize it yet, he mused, but everybody at the table could tell that they were falling head over heels for each other.

Kurt couldn't help it: he allowed himself a quick, private grin before staring back down at his latte. He was a sucker for romances, and Finn and Rachel promised to be an epic love.

This was going to be a fun show to watch.

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**Not a huge fan of that last line, but.. eh. I wanted to get the chapter up, plus I wasn't sure what I would change it to, so that's what you get.**

**So Blaine and Kurt have noticed that Finn and Rachel are head over heels for each other after watching them only for a few minutes. But it won't be that easy- it'll take some time before Finchel acknowledge that it was love at first sight.**

**Let me know what you think! The more reviewers, the more motivated I am to post!**

**Littlemissbrittany888- I'm liking it so far! It's definitely different, and I'm not totally in love with it, but we'll see how the season plays out. :)**

**And happy belated Canadian Thanksgiving! :)**

**newyork-stateofmind11**


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